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CIC calls for documents on Gujarat riots
Sonia’s hoarding evokes protest
Sub-quota among OBCs can’t be merged: SC |
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Punjab leaders seek Rs 200 hike in paddy MSP
Defence cyber security tightened
Online registration for passports
Wrapper inside soft drink bottle
RDX scare on Bangladesh plane
Monsoon fury toll 97
Notice to Aamir in chinkara case
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CIC calls for documents on Gujarat riots
New Delhi, August 8 The government had denied these correspondence to a citizen on the ground that the matter concerned national security and it would not be in public interest to disclose them. The commission today called for the correspondence to examine whether its disclosure will serve or harm the public interest. In a decision taken by the full Bench headed by Chief Information Commission Wajahat Habibullah, the commission asked the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances to submit the correspondence that took place between February 28, 2002, and March 15, 2002. It was on February 28 in 2002 that 57 persons were killed in the Godhra train fire that triggered the riots in Gujarat. The commission said after examining the documents, it would first consider whether it would be in the public interest to order disclosure or not, and only then it would issue appropriate directions to the authority concerned. It has asked the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances to produce the correspondence to the commission on August 22. The CIC passed today’s order on an application by C. Ramesh, a resident of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, seeking a direction from the CIC to ask the ministry to disclose the
contents of the letters exchanged between the two top constitutional functionaries of the country. The appellant himself argued his case through video conferencing and was also assisted by Mr Prashant Bhushan, senior advocate, civil rights activist Aruna Roy, and Prof Shekhar Singh. They argued that if the correspondence were made public, it would help restore confidence in a section of the community affected by riots instead of endangering the national security by any means.
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Sonia’s hoarding evokes protest
Kanpur, August 8 The hoarding, which was put up two days ago at the main Phool Bagh crossing, mysteriously disappeared last night. The hoarding was pointed out to the senior Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Shri Prakash Jaiswal and Salman Khurshid when they came to take a last-minute look at the arrangements in the daytime. The local BJP MLA and a section of the Congress had expressed their unhappiness over the hoarding, albeit for different reasons. There was also a futile attempt to burn down over 36’X15” feet hoarding by some elements. But, before any damage could be done, the hoarding was removed. A smiling Sonia, replete with an elaborate crown, was projected as Goddess Durga, the symbol of the victory of good over evil. In her 10 hands she was carrying multiple weapons like axes, arrows, spear, bow,
gadda, and chakra, which were directed at killing the faceless demon of corruption. Barely 500 metres away from the podium, the hoarding displayed the names of local Congress leaders Atul Tripathi and Ravi Jaiswal as the sponsors. Strongly reacting to the use of Hindu mythological symbol for Sonia, BJP MLA Salil Bishnoi representing the Generalganj Vidhan Sabha segment in Kanpur charged the Congress government of double standard. “In their IGNOU syllabus the Congress-led government had denigrated Hindu Gods and Goddess and here they are using them for their own benefit”, he said. Congress member and present Mayor Anil Kumar Sharma while rationalising the hoarding as an expression of the reverence of the local cadre admitted that he personally found it hard to comment on the issue as the Congress was a secular party. Many years ago Indira Gandhi’s political opponent Atal Bihari Vajpayee had first hailed her as Durga after the victory over Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Once again renowned painter
M.F. Hussain used the symbol to depict Indira Gandhi’s unbridled power during Emergency.
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Sub-quota among OBCs can’t be merged: SC
New Delhi, August 8 “In our opinion, the amalgamation of two classes of people for reservation would be unreasonable as two different classes are treated similarly which is in violation of the mandate of Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution… It is well settled that to treat unequals as equals also violates Article 14,” a Bench of Mr Justice A.R. Lakshmanan and Mr Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta ruled. The court said a Constitution Bench in the Mandal Commission case had specifically noted that there was no constitutional bar on states categorising the backward classes as “backward and more backward class”. “Combining the extremely backward class and the back class into one group is to treat unequals as equals thus violating the notion of substantive equality and Article 14 of the Constitution bringing it within the purview of judicial review,” the apex court ruled. The ruling came in a case pertaining to the merging of 18 per cent quota for “extremely” backward classes with 9 per cent for “backward” classes and reducing it to a total of 14 per cent for the entire OBC for admission to professional colleges in 2001 to ensure that the total percentage of reservation did not exceed the 50 per cent limit fixed by the Supreme Court in the Mandal Commission case. The apex court was of the view that if the OBC quota was to be reduced to maintain the ceiling of 50 per cent, then the quota for “the extremely backward” and “the backward” have to be reduced in the same proportion as was applicable to them. With this ruling the apex court set aside a judgement of a Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court, which had upheld the amalgamation of the quota for the extremely backward and the backward by the state government and fixing it at 14 per cent across the board for all sections of OBCs for admission to professional colleges.
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Punjab leaders seek Rs 200 hike in paddy MSP
New Delhi, Aug 8 The sit-in in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue was joined by party MPs, former parliamentarians, sitting MLAs and people’s representatives from Punjab belonging to the BJP-led NDA. However, Congress leaders were conspicuous by their absence even though the issue had generated strong reaction from Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who had sought a hike in the MSP. The issue could gain political dimensions in the coming months in view of the Assembly polls scheduled in the state in February. With the MSP issue on a platter, the Akalis has already started drawing up plans to take the issue to even nook and corner of the state. Mr Parkash Singh Badal told newspersons at the protest venue that it was a major issue for the Assembly polls. Mr Badal said during his tenure the MSP was always raised by at least Rs 40 and now the Congress government in the state despite their own coalition government at the Centre, had failed to safeguard the interest of the farmers. A few weeks ago, the Central government had announced an increase of Rs 10 per quintal for two varieties of paddy — common and superfine — raising their rates to Rs 580 and Rs 610 per quintal, respectively. In a memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Akalis pointed out that calculating in terms of recent price rise in ‘atta’, the hike in paddy price had come to one hundred times less than that of wheat flour. Similarly, man-power, fertilisers and pesticides had registered a compound increase of nearly 40 per cent. And, the prices of diesel had doubled from Rs 17 per litre to Rs 34 per litre in the last four years. Akali Dal (Longowal) president Prem Singh Chandumajra, a former MP who also submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister against the meagre rise in the MSP for paddy, said it should have been raised to Rs 700 a quintal. The entire super structure of agricultural prices should be linked to the over-all price index while determining the MSP for the crops, he said adding that the MSP of cash crops particularly cotton had always been much lower than the market rates. That is why, he said, most of the suicide incidents had been recorded in cotton growing areas. The MSP issue was raised in the Rajya Sabha by Tarlochan Singh (Ind), who found support from NDA and Left leaders. Tarlochan Singh said it was unfortunate that farmers, who were the backbone of the country’s economy, were not getting the importance they deserved. The Minimum Support Price of paddy for the season had disappointed them and there was a growing feeling among the MPs from Haryana and Punjab that the government had failed them. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi assured the House that a discussion on the whole gamut of agricultural issues, including the MSP, would be held on Thursday.
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Defence cyber security tightened
Chandigarh, August 8 Sources said the guidelines were notified last week and had been circulated among all military establishments. While some security instructions have been reiterated, a few new measures have also been incorporated. According to the new set of instructions, military personnel have been debarred from taking out computer printouts and copying or transferring data. Only a select few officers would be authorised to carry out such activities and their actions would be controlled through the use of security passwords. “The authorised officers can no longer ask their junior officers or clerks to carry out such activities. Through a measure called cyber fingerprinting, they will have to do so themselves and such activities will be logged and monitored," an officer said. Instructions have also been issued to disable USB ports, pen-drive ports, floppy and CD drives and these are to be retained on specified computers only. It has been reiterated that internet connections, where authorised, are to be on stand-alone computers only and under no circumstances are to be installed on networked computers. The Army is also believed to be in consultation with prominent computer software and hardware manufacturers about installing effective firewalls.
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Online registration for passports
New Delhi, August 8 Under the new system, a passport applicant with access to the Internet facility can go to the website https://passport.gov.in, select online registration and fill in the form. Adults as well as minor applicants can register online for fresh passports, reissue of passports (where the validity of the passport held has expired or is about to expire) and new passport booklets in lieu of lost or damaged passports. The application form is simple, applicant-friendly and easy to fill in, an MEA spokesman said. When in doubt, the applicant can refer to the revised and updated instructions given on the website of the Delhi Passport Office. On completion of registration, the applicant will get a printout of the registered application showing the date and time to visit the RPO, Delhi, for submitting the application along with the requisite documents. Online registrants will not be required to take any tokens. They can straightway go to counter No. 14, Hall No.1, in the passport office and submit their forms on the date and time indicated in the printout. The spokesman clarified that in addition to this new facility of on-line registration, the existing system of submitting applications at the passport office, district passport cells (DPCs) and Speed Post centres would continue for the convenience of passport applicants in Delhi. The online registration is initially being introduced on a trial basis and will be finetuned in the coming days.
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Wrapper inside soft drink bottle
Mumbai, August 8 Parikh claims that he found the offending article on December 30, 2005, while stopping over at Borivli. When Parikh reported the matter, the salesman passed the buck to the company. Parikh approached the makers of Fanta in Mumbai, but failed to get a satisfactory answer “On December 30, I bought this bottle from Borivli. I saw a wrapper inside the bottle. I did not open it and collected the bill. I want the Indian Government to penalise the makers. The money should be given to an NGO for developmental work. Taking strict action is the need of the hour,” said Parikh. Parikh has filed a case in the consumer court against the company. The latest incident supports the ongoing protest against contaminants in aerated drinks. — ANI
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RDX scare on Bangladesh plane
Kolkata, August 8 Immediately afterwards the aircraft was drawn to an isolated area of the tarmac escorted by the CISF, BSF with special bombs squds and fire-fighting engines. A large number of ambulance vans with adequate medical equipment were also placed around the aircraft. The passengers were then allowed to unboard leaving their luggage inside the plane. When everyone got down, a search was conducted inside the plane. Fortunately, there was no sign of any bomb or RDX and the call received at the airport was declared hoax.
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Monsoon fury toll 97
Mumbai, August 8 The death toll from the heavy rain in Maharashtra has reached 97 with reports of casualties coming in from the interiors following the restoration of communication systems, officials said here. Heavy rain continued for the fourth consecutive day today with the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions bearing the brunt of the monsoon fury. The situation is worsening with all major dams in the state filling to capacity. Pune, which saw heavy flooding on Monday, received some respite with floodwater receding. Meanwhile, the government has sought Rs 500 crore financial assistance from the Centre for relief work.
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Notice to Aamir in chinkara case
Ahmedabad, August 8 The department sent a notice yesterday to his whole production team for filming the chinkara without its permission, Forest officials said today.
— PTI
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